Hidden Fangs
by A and A Pikachu Prime
Summary: There was a story, told throughout the years until every Cybertronian alike had learned it. It told of monsters with abnormally sharp denta that ended in points. Almost like vampires, but even worse. Charming, sweet, gentle, perfect until the time was right to kill. How did they not notice one of these 'monsters' hiding among them?
1. Battle

"What do you hide behind that mask, anyways? I bet it's worth the effort of ripping it off," Megatron purred. Optimus thrashed beneath him, trying to free himself from Megatron's weight pressing down on his spark chamber. "Don't bother trying to get away."

"Get off of me!" Optimus yelled. He struggled to get his arms out from under Megatron's knees. The Decepticon leader's legs were holding down his own, making escape next to impossible. And the fingers digging into his face to remove the mask certainly wasn't helping.

"A scar, perhaps? Or beauty ripe for breaking? Or... something else that you want to keep hidden?" Megatron asked to the air despite the subject being beneath him. He pressed the center which looked like it was the seam. He pulled on the top and was unimpressed when the give was only slight. "I'm sure Ratchet made this for you, didn't he? To stop others from seeing your face. I'm certain that you're not that repulsive. No, I think you're afraid. That's why you try so hard to disappear into the shadows, even among those you call your comrads."

"Stop it, Megatron," Optimus roared. He tried to pull his face away when Megatron felt the edges of his helmet. Black fingers invaded every dip in search of a button or latch.

"Why should I? I'm just... curious. I thought you liked helping others learn."

"Not at my own expense," Optimus said. He pulled away again, only to succeed in smashing his helmet against the rocks of the cavern around them, rattling his processor within.

"So unlike you," Megatron said after a bit of laughter. "You're trembling in fear. I can feel it." He brushed a piece of metal unlike the rest of Optimus' mask or helm. An evil snake like grin spread across his face. "I've found it, haven't I?" When he was met with only a glare, he knew he'd won. He pressed the button which pulled the mask back to reveal Optimus' face.

He was right in say that the Autobot leader wasn't ugly. Far from it in fact. But he hadn't counted on Optimus having _fangs_ like the ones the shone in the light that poured in through a gap at the top of the cave. The fangs came over his bottom lip, pressing into the softer metal. "So, your one of the fanged ones, are you? I never thought that you'd be one of them."

Rocks tumbling from the pile infront of the opening dragged Megatron's attention away long enough for Optimus to get a grip on the Decepticon's knee. He pulled, knocking Megatron over and returning his ability to stand.

Megatron waited for Optimus to speak. To scream. To yell. To open his mouth to plunge his fangs into the silver metal of Megatron's neck. But Optimus only glared at him, his weapon trained on Megatron's helm. "Optimus!" Ironhide's voice called. Optimus' optics darted to the rocks but quickly returned to Megatron.

"If the rumours are true, you should be sucking my Energon dry in seconds. Tearing into the tubes that carry it. And yet you won't even speak. Are you truely afraid of me? Or your own Autobots?" Megatron jabbed. Optimus growled low in his throat, not opening his mouth at all. The rocks were blasted from the opening, and Optimus smashed the butt of his gun into Megatron's helm.

"Optimus!" Ironhide repeated. Before the red mech had a chance to come to his leader's aid, Megatron snapped the section of Optimus helmet off that controlled the mask when the Autobot leader came into reach. The Autobot kicked Megatron away, and Ironhide came running. "Optimus, are you alright?" Optimus only gave a nod, his servo covering his face. Megatron got to his pedes, and sensing his defeat, flew from the cave. "Let's get ya back to base. Ratch'll fix ya up." He pulled one of Optimus' arms over his shoulder, leaving the other free to protect the sensitive metal of his face. Together, they left the cavern and headed back to their base, the Ark.


	2. Base

Check out the poll on my profile that goes with this story. I need a pairing before I get too far. The options are: Jazz, Ratchet, Ironhide, or Sideswipe. Yes, the last is unusual, but if handled right, it's actually a pretty cool pairing. Let me know please!

"I can't repair it. I can replace the piece of your helmet to stop the bleeding, but not the control for the mask," Ratchet said. He held the welder up with a serious expression.

"Go ahead," Optimus responded. Giving his leader a nod, he carefully began welding the piece back on. Whenever a spark hit Optimus' face, the Autobot leader winced and almost pulled away. "Don't bother with the mask. After seeing me for what I am the first time, no one will be able to look at me the same way again." Ratchet huffed and gave Optimus a stern look.

"It's not that bad. Yeah, they'll have to readjust. But it doesn't change who you are," Ratchet told him. He finished the weld quickly before meeting Optimus' optics. "I don't see the problem. You're still Optimus Prime. With, or without a mask to hide the fangs. You've lead us into countless victories. They can't deny that."

"But they can force me out of the Autobot ranks for lying to them."

"You're over-thinking this, Prime. Don't worry so much. It'll be something you have to deal with. I knew something like this would happen when I offered to make the mask for you in the first place. You've let a couple of elongated denta, rumors, and extra coding rule your life. You not completely different from them."

"Except for the fact that the only way I can stay fully healthy is to stick my elongated denta into the neck of my own kind," Optimus responded sourly. Ratchet gave a sound that was a mix of a growl and a sigh.

"Prime! I order you to just go out there and get it over with. Slag, they're not going to shove you off a cliff or try a human rememdy for vampires on you just because you're 'one of them'. Honestly," Ratchet snapped. He crossed his arms with a glare, "We don't know a lot about the datastring that made you have this condition. But it's not a virus. Because we don't know enough, we don't even have a name for it. We just call those with sharp denta 'one of them' or other fraggin' things like that. You're not going to suck us dry over night. If you could've, we wouldn't be having this conversation. You would've already done so. You can't, because of who you are in spark. Forget about fangs for a moment Prime. All you have, is a slight difference in your coding."

"That difference makes me as bad as the Decepticons, Ratchet. My kind strikes fear into the sparks of those around them. The rumors aren't completely lies. A few have done things to make the stories spread, and as a result, every one of us is a threat. And I'd prefer not to be staring down the barrel of a gun every time I try to walk around in the sole place I can call home."

"They can't force you off planet."

"They don't have to."

* * *

Spike was halfway to dreamland where he was seated beside Bumblebee. The little yellow Autobot had a few burn marks curving around his left arm, but besides that, he had escaped the battle without injury. In fact, most of the Autobots had gotten away with nothing more than a couple of marks and scrapes. Those who were injuried, such as Cliffjumper who had his shoulder painfully out of joint, were being dealt with in a section of the Medbay that Ratchet hadn't closed off.

Bumblebee nudged the human, who jumped, speaking nonsense for a moment, before rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Spike noticed that the room had gone into a stunned silence. He followed their line of sight to where Ratchet was along with Optimus Prime. Who was without his mask. Many of the Autobots allowed their optics to reset in order to find out if the sight before them was real or not. But it was.

Ratchet gave Optimus a comforting pat on the arm before moving off to help Wheeljack work on the other injured Autobots. "You have fangs?" An Autobot asked. Spike didn't catch who is was. Optimus nodded with a slight uncomfortable smile. Something none of the Autobots had ever thought they'd see. It was strange to know exactly what their leader looked like after years of guessing. And few were sure they liked what they saw.

"That's it, we're doomed!" Gears moaned. Optimus sighed and rubbed his optics briefly.

"Up until now, you never knew. A few of you did, but most of you were kept in the dark. That was how I wanted to keep it. But since you know, I can't act as if this won't bother you. The choice for what happens now is yours. If you wish for me to step down, then decide amongst yourselves, and I will comply. This is who I am. I'm sorry if it bothers you, but I can't do anything about it," Optimus said. He then walked out of the room without meeting the optics of any other bot in the room. As soon as he was out of view, the room was seized by talk of tales the Autobots had heard on Cybertron, along with what to do next with this new information.


	3. Twin

Unease settled over those who called the Ark their home. Even for those who were trying to support their leader. Those who weren't were at odds with the ones who were still willing to accept Optimus. The poor Autobot leader was forced to avoid contact with most of his Autobots, his friends, to escape the scathing remarks being made about him. Thankfully, he was more than aware of who was on his side. Ratchet was obvious, but he had Ironhide, Prowl, Jazz, Sideswipe, Bumblebee, Hound, Skyfire, Wheeljack, and a few others. But the unfortunate part was that he knew the situation was beginning to tear apart several relationships between his mechs. A perfect example would be Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. The latter was against him, saying that he couldn't be trusted. That if he'd lied to them already, what would keep him from doing so again? Sideswipe, however, was understanding. The reactions of the Autobots were more than enough proof that Optimus had kept the fangs a secret for a good reason. Optimus just wanted to make the infighting among the Autobots come to an end.

Optimus checked the hallway first before daring to venture down it. The only Autobot there was Sideswipe. The red Autobot was tossing a stone up and catching it as he leaned against the wall, caught up in his thoughts. Optimus vented a sigh of relief as started down the hall, hoping to be ignored. Although, by then, he knew that not being noticed was never going to happen. If only to prove the point, Sideswipe looked up and caught the stone with one servo. A smirk crossed the mech's face and he pushed away from the wall to face his leader. Optimus slowed his pace until he reached Sideswipe, where he stopped to speak with the twin who wanted his attention. Just like he had every time they crossed passed. "Sideswipe," Optimus greeted. The twin's smirk changed into a grin.

"Optimus Prime, sir. Where you headed this time?" Sideswipe questioned.

Optimus sighed before speaking, "Ironhide's quarters." The red mech moved out of the way in a silent offer to escort his leader. Optimus began walking once more, this time with Sideswipe joining him.

"You don't have to hide," Sideswipe said suddenly. Surprise crossed Optimus' face as he looked down at the twin. Sideswipe didn't give Optimus time to reply. "The others can't do anything to you. A lot of us wouldn't let 'em do anything." Sideswipe froze when Optimus put a servo on his shoulder. It was then that he noticed signs he'd been missing. The Autobot leader's optics were dimmed and he was shaking slightly. Telltale signs of a bot low on energy. Sideswipe found himself wondering how he'd missed it.

"Let it go, Sideswipe. I earned it for myself," Optimus stated.

"Like slag you did. This-" Sideswipe reached up and touched the fangs earning a flinch, "-isn't your fault. You didn't ask for them. The rest of the fraggers don't deserve to even bow at your pedes if they don't respect you. You're the Prime for Primus' sake. Don't let 'em win. You have stuff to do. I have patrol. I'll see you later, Prime." Sideswipe walked away before Optimus could say anything. He was already at Ironhide's quarters, so he knocked on the door. It slid away almost instantly to reveal Ironhide. The van was slightly stunned to find Optimus staring after the retreating form of the red twin. Optimus forced himself to turn towards Ironhide.

"What was that about?" Ironhide asked. Optimus shook his helm, and Ironhide beckoned him in. The red mech pushed a cube of Energon into the blue servos of his leader. "Ratch' sent it for you." Optimus smiled.

"Bless his spark," he said, taking a sip from the cube. The feeling of power began to spread through his circuits, and he was instantly thankful. Briefly, he wondered whose Energon was satisfying his frame this time.


	4. Anger

Ratchet was beyond angry as he stormed into the rec room, locking the armor of his wrist back into place as he did so. Wheeljack, who was trailing behind Ratchet, closed and locked the rec room doors to avoid anyone walking in that wasn't supposed to be on the receiving end of Ratchet's wrath. Like Optimus Prime for example. Ratchet did a sweep of the room to be sure that most of his targets were there. They were, and most of the bots he wasn't angry with were elsewhere. As soon as Wheeljack had moved off to get them both a cube of Energon, Ratchet unleashed his anger on the bots in the room.

"I hope that one of you, any one bot, can explain to me why all of a sudden Prime is an enemy where he was once practically Primus himself to every Autobot on the Ark. Explain to me, why the slag, one fragging change made each of you into a Decepticon? Every slagging one of you is an idiot," Ratchet snarled, looking around the room with violence pouring from his optics, suffocating the mechs in the room where they sat. "Optimus Prime is the same bot he was when you didn't know his secret. He didn't change all of a sudden, unlike each of you. He's _afraid_ of you all. Don't you see? Those with the difference in their coding frighten us, and so we hunt and kill them! And they're the risk? We slaughtered them! Adults, younglings, sparklings even, mech or femme. Optimus watched others like him die for us to feel secure. Medics turned them away because of a single difference! He nearly died because other medics I worked with were going to send him away without repairs. Let me tell you something. He should be the one turning _us_ out, not the other way around. He fights for each one of you, and yet we're just about ready to hand him over to the Decepticons! We owe him more than we can ever hope to repay."

There was a stunned silence that followed as the Autobots thought over what Ratchet had said, or in this case shouted. The pure anger in his tone had stunned the others completely until Gears found his voice. "What about what we've heard about the fanged bots? They kill without mercy. Are you saying that we're supposed to just forget it?"

"Prime doesn't kill without mercy! Do you know how hard it is to get him to even drink Energon? He's not a killer! Just because he has fangs doesn't mean it changes who he is. You won't look past it," Ratchet snapped. A cube of Energon was gently pushed into his servo. He looked to Wheeljack in slight surprise.

"Calm down, Ratchet," Wheeljack said softly. He moved away and took a seat at one of the free tables, motioning for Ratchet to follow. The CMO looked around the room once more before sighing. He gave up on the others and took a seat in front of the inventor, starting up a calm conversation as if he hadn't been angry in the first place. Startling Wheeljack was a waste of time since the inventor had been supporting, and had even done a lot of research about what caused the coding change and its effects, and had been for quite some time.

Sunstreaker, who had been seated at a table on the other side of the room from where Ratchet was, glared at the medic's back. Sideswipe wasn't present in the room, and it had put Sunstreaker in a bad mood before Ratchet had come into the room and started to yell. He had gone to the Rec Room to try to improve his mood. That obviously wasn't going to work. He downed the rest of his half-empty cube before leaving the room. He had a red twin to track down.

He opened his end of the bond again, feeling Sideswipe's emotions on the edge of his mind. Sideswipe was out on patrol, cruising through the nearby town in search of Decepticons. He transformed and rushed through the halls, nearly knocking over a few bots, until he was outside in the fresh air. Bright light hit him along with the soft caress of fresh air. He ignored both, rushing down the road as fast as possible. His target wasn't fair, just cruising along the road.

_~Why don't you slow down and come talk to me?~_

_~Sunny, I have to focus on my patrol.~_

_~That Prime sent you on?~_

_~Yeah, so?~_

_~'So'? 'So'? He's one of those… things! He lied to us! Sides, don't you get it? He betrayed us!~_

_~He didn't betray us! He's terrified of what we'll do to him, so just shut up. Leave the poor mech alone.~_

Sunstreaker suddenly pulled out in front of his twin, forcing him to a stop. Sideswipe finally just transformed, and Sunstreaker did the same.

"I'm serious," Sideswipe hissed, "Leave Prime _alone._" And that was when Sunstreaker realized something was off about the situation. All he had to do, was find out what.


End file.
